corn
in Northern Coloradocourtesy of photographer Warren Gretz and PIX

The Corn
Mother

In the
house with the tortoise chair
She will give birth to the pearl
To the beautiful feather...
There she sits on the tortoise
Swelling to give us birth
On your way, on your way
Child be on your way to me here
You whom I made new...
Aztec poem(courtesy
Suppressed Histories Archive
-- Slide Series)

Myths about the Corn
Mother are found throughout the world. In Germany, when the stalks of
corn wave in the wind, it is said that the Corn Mother is running through
the field. Throughout Europe female dolls are made from the last sheaf
of the harvest, in honor of the Corn Mother.

Some people believe
that the name Demeter means Corn Mother. She is known throughout the world
by many different names -- Demeter, Persephone, Cerridwen, Bride/Bridget,
The Callieach (Old Wife), The Corn Maiden, Mother Corn, The First Mother,
Selu and Kahesana Xaskwim. These are just some of her names. She is the
Goddess of fertility and life, guardian of all growing and blooming things,
and also Goddess of death and rebirth. She sacrifices herself at the harvest,
only to be reborn in the spring.

The
Blue Corn Mother, Huichol yarn art,
used with permission, The
Farm Catalog,
supporting the work of --

In one Corn Mother
tale of the Cherokee (Native American) People, The Corn Mother, Selu,
gave birth to two sons who were always hungry. She told her sons she would
go find food and she returned very quickly with a basket full of corn.
She continued to do this every day, leaving to find food, and returning
shortly, with a full basket of corn. Her sons were very curious and mischievous,
so one day they decided to follow her and find out where she was getting
the corn. They followed her to a small hut, and peeped through the gaps
in the logs to see what she was doing. Inside the hut, the Mother set
down her basket and squatted above it, filling it with corn.

That night after dinner,
the boys told their mother that they had followed her and knew where she
was getting the corn. Sadly, the Corn Mother told her children that now
that they knew her secret, she would have to die. She told them that after
her death, they must drag her body through the field, then corn would
grow. She also warned them that from then on, they would have to work
for their food. Then, she lay down and died.

In another version
of this story, The Corn Mother was said to be the First Mother to the
people. Her children were hungry and to feed them, she asked her husband
to kill/sacrifice her and bury her in the field so that crops would grow.
In other stories, her sons or husband actually have to dismember her and
plant the pieces of her, as seeds. The Lenape People called the Corn Mother
Kahesana Xaskwim.

In one legend of Kahesana
Xaskwim, people took her gifts for granted and stopped believing in her.
Hurt by this, Kahesana Xaskwim gave all the corn seed wings, and it all
flew away. With no corn the people began to fight and panic, because winter
was approaching. Feeling sorry for the people, the Creator detained winter
for them and sent an old wise man from the spirit world to help them.
The wise man taught the people how to get enough oysters to help them
survive for awhile.Then, taking a young boy from the village with him,
the wise man set off on a journey to find the Corn Mother.

The old man and the
boy set off across the frozen sea. After some time, they came to a hole
in the ice and jumped through it. Instead of there being water beneath
this hole, there was a huge barren corn field. In the middle of the field
was a small hut. The wise man told the child that this was the home of
the Corn Mother, and that they would visit her after they ate. They made
a small fire and began to cook some oysters. The scent of the cooking
oysters brought the Corn Mother out to them, and she asked them if they
would share since she was nearly starving. They willingly shared with
her, and after they all finished eating, the old man and the boy sang
and danced for the Corn Mother.

After this, the old
man asked the Corn Mother for corn seed to take back to the village. Sadly,
Kahesana Xaskwim said that she could not give the people any corn because
they were greedy and were not thankful for her gifts. The child began
to cry and plead with the Corn Mother, telling her how other children,
like him, would starve to death with no corn. This made the Corn Mother
cry, but instead of tears falling from her eyes, corn seed fell. She told
the boy and the old man that they could each take a handful of the seed
back to the people, but that the people must sing songs and dance dances
to thank her for her gifts. She said that when she heard these songs and
saw these dances it would make her very happy and she would know the people
were grateful, so then she would bless them with an abundance of crops.
The boy and the wise man returned to the people and taught them the songs
and dances to honor the Corn Mother.

All over the world,
people believe in the Corn Mother, and she plays important roles throughout
the year. This harvest season, thank the Corn Mother for her gifts of
food to sustain us through the winter. Honor her with songs and dances.
Plant seeds and bulbs to blossom in the spring, when she awakens. As the
cold and rain set in and she begins to wither and die, remember that she
will be reborn in the spring.

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